


you were out of my league (got my heartbeat racing)

by sylviewashere



Series: sk8er au [1]
Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, actress!stacie, sk8er au, skater!beca
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-07 10:50:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14669574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sylviewashere/pseuds/sylviewashere
Summary: Beca is a college dropout, skater chick who steals things for shits and giggles and is banned from multiple stores. Stacie is an actress, breaking out of her typical role in rom-coms and trying to shake the shitty reputation she has. Neither of them expected to meet the love of their life in the snack aisle of a Walmart, but their lives are anything but cookie-cutter.sk8er au





	you were out of my league (got my heartbeat racing)

**Author's Note:**

> after almost two months of planning and trying to craft the perfect aesthetic, sk8er au is finally here! thank you to everyone who eagerly helped me develop this au (*cough* angie *cough*) and enjoy~

A soft, romantic score was playing as credits rolled across the screen. There were sniffles coming from the end of the couch, so Beca turned her music down and nudged her roommate with her foot. “You good?”

Emily nodded, laughing at her tears. She didn’t bat an eye at Beca’s open laptop, fully aware that Beca just humored her by sitting in the living room while she watched movies. Beca reached for the tissue box on the side table and handed them to Emily, who took them gratefully. “Was the movie good?”

“I mean, as good as a typical rom-com can be. The cast was really what made it good. Stacie Conrad especially.”

Beca recognized the name of Emily’s favorite actress. Movie nights usually consisted of a Stacie Conrad rom-com. Beca didn’t even pay attention to them, opening her laptop and telling Emily to wake her when Conrad was in something other than a cookie cutter romance. Apparently, her acting ability surpassed the movies she was placed in, but nevertheless Beca stuck with her life mission to avoid as many movies as possible.

“Well, it got you crying,” Beca pointed out.

“That’s true. Alright, we did my thing. Do you still want to go on an adventure?” Emily grinned, kicking off her blanket and pulling Beca off the couch with her.

“Hell yeah.” Beca ran to grab her longboard.

//

The cool evening breeze was hitting Beca as she skated along the street. Emily was sitting on the sidewalk, not so subtly recording Beca on her phone - she liked to post videos on her Instagram to help promote the shop Beca worked at, and in return Beca convinced her manager Luke to play some of Emily’s covers and originals in the shop occasionally.

Strands of hair that she hadn’t pulled back under her snapback flew in her face as she skidded to a halt. This was a normal activity for the two of them: after Beca half-watched a movie with Emily, Emily would agree to come with Beca so she could skate at night. Nighttime was just so much more calming for Beca to skate in, especially with Emily blasting chill music from her speakers. The cooler air and the dimly lit streets always made it feel like time was standing still and there was nothing else to worry about.

Beca glanced at her watch, noticing that it had been almost an hour since she dragged her best friend outside. She grabbed her board and gestured for Emily to follow her back to their house.

The taller girl caught up to Beca and they walked side by side home. “Thanks for coming with me, Em.”

“You don’t have to thank me every time, Becs. I wouldn’t let you come out here alone. Besides, I like watching you skate.”

“My offer to teach you how is still open.” Beca smirked, already knowing Emily’s response.

“Please. You know I can only barely longboard. I’d bust my ass.”

They both laughed, and Emily wrapped an arm around Beca. The two of them were inseparable, and their pure rings of laughter filled the streets.

//

“Beca?” Emily’s voice traveled through the aisles of the store.

“Yes, Em?”

“Do we need cereal?”

“No.”

“Wrong answer, I’m getting cereal!”

Beca rolled her eyes fondly. Their shopping trips were always disasters, so Beca was hoping this one would go smoother than normal. Emily always spilled things, and Beca tended to a little bit of a troublemaker. Technically, she wasn’t even _allowed_ in this particular Walmart anymore (an incident involving kiddie tricycles, wheelies, and a towering display of stuffed animals). A long sleeve shirt covering her tattoos and a little sneaking around solved that problem easily.

Beca’s bigger problem at the moment was the fact that her favorite peanut butter crackers were on the top shelf. She huffed and tried to reach it by standing on her toes, but it didn’t work. All she managed to do was knock the box over. Beca knew what she had to do. After taking a glance around to make sure no employees were watching, she started scaling the shelves.

Hands grasped for the box, but Beca was disgruntled when she found that she had picked up the _low-fat_ peanut butter crackers. What kind of sick joke was this? She braced herself on the shelf, continuing to search through the boxes for her beloved snack. As she was tossing box after box aside, she heard someone clear their throat. Beca whipped her head around, ready to book it if it was the manager who threw her out last time.

Instead, she was greeted with the sight of the most gorgeous woman she thinks she’s ever seen. Beca must have been staring - how could she not with those soft green eyes and legs for _days_ \- because the woman raised an eyebrow at her. Or maybe it was the fact that she was still clinging to the shelf.

“Are you looking for these?” The woman held out a box of peanut butter crackers - the _full_ fat kind.

“Oh yeah, dude! Thanks,” Beca hopped down, landing gracefully and taking the snack. “All that other shit was low-fat. I don’t mess with that.”

The woman smirked, obviously amused. “Interesting. I kind of have to stick with low-fat stuff for work.”

Beca couldn’t shake the idea that she recognized her face and voice from somewhere, but she elected to ignore the thought.

“That sucks. You already have an amazing figure.” Beca’s eyes widened a little. “Not that I was staring! I mean, you’re amazingly attractive. But I’m sure you’re super intelligent too! Okay shit, I sound dumb. Uh, I’m Beca.”

Beca held her hand out awkwardly. Introductions weren’t really her forte. The other woman took it eagerly - shocking Beca a bit with how strong the grip of her delicately manicured hands were.

“I’m Stacie. Don’t worry about sounding dumb. Beauty this fine can be a little intimidating.” Stacie winked and flashed Beca a grin. “You know, I was almost content in just watching you climb the shelves to get your crackers.”

“Hey, not everyone can be tall.” Beca huffed.

“It was a good attempt,” Stacie said. “I’ll admit, I was enjoying the view.”

“The view?” Stacie ran her eyes up and down Beca, fixating on her tight skinny jeans purposefully. “ _Oh.”_ Beca bit her lip. She didn’t expect Stacie to start flirting with her. Clearly, Stacie wasn’t as afraid to be outright with her appreciation of Beca’s figure.

Beca was about to respond with some lame attempt at a pick up line when she was saved by the reappearance of her roommate.

“Beca, did you get my Goldfish?” Emily rounded the corner of the aisle, carrying three boxes of cereal. Upon seeing Beca and Stacie, the boxes fell to the ground, one of them busting open, Froot Loops scattering across the floor.

“Emily, what the hell?”

“Oh my gosh, are you Stacie Conrad?”

Stacie, who was trying not to laugh at Emily’s clumsiness, answered with a smile. “Yes, the one and only.”

“Oh my stars.” Emily stood frozen. Beca gave Stacie a questioning look.

“Should I get a manager and tell them you spilled your cereal?” Stacie asked. Beca nodded, prompting Stacie to exit the aisle.

Beca raised an eyebrow at Emily. “Why are you acting weird, dude?”

“Beca, you can’t be serious.”

“I’m never serious, but go off I guess.”

“That’s _Stacie Conrad._ My favorite actress of all time? We watched one of her movies _last night_?” Emily was clearly growing exasperated.

“‘We’ is a strong word.”

“ _Beca._ ”

“Alright, alright. That is really cool, I guess, if you’re into movies or whatever,” Beca shrugged. “I thought she looked familiar.” Just then, Stacie returned.

“Hey, so I went and got the manager. He said he’d come deal with it soon. Now, where were we?” Stacie looked at Beca with a smirk. Beca smirked back.

Emily cleared her throat.

“Stacie, I’m sorry, you probably get this a lot. But could I get a picture with you, really fast?” Emily bounced eagerly. Luckily, Stacie seemed amused by her, so she agreed.

Stacie and Emily started talking about one of Stacie’s movies while Beca pushed the fallen cereal into a little pile with her foot. She pulled out her phone and opened Snapchat, taking a video panning from the mess on the ground to Emily and Stacie taking dozens of selfies together.

Beca was typing out the caption ( _What happens when Em meets her fave celeb…)_ when the manager rounded the corner. Recognition flashed in both Beca and the manager’s eyes when they saw each other.

“Shit.”

“Hey, punk, I thought I kicked you out last week!” He approached Beca with a look on his face that was definitely _not_ friendly. “Do I gotta toss your ass out again?”

“Emily, we gotta go!” Beca bolted down the aisle, grabbing Emily’s hand as she passed.

“Beca!” Emily yelled. “I’m so sorry, Stacie! Bye, it was really nice meeting you!”

“What the hell is happening?” Stacie’s voice was the last thing Beca remembered hearing as she rushed alongside Emily to the parking lot.

Once they were safely in their car, Beca looked over at Emily with a grimace, panting. “I guess he remembered me.”

“You think?” Emily asked sarcastically.

“Are you mad?”

“Slightly. I didn’t get my cereal, but at least I got a ton of pictures with flippin’ Stacie Conrad!” Emily’s frown disappeared as she pulled out her phone and started flipping through the photos. “Which one is most Insta worthy?”

Beca leaned over, examining each one carefully. “Hmm, the third one. That Walmart fluorescent lighting does wonders for your skin.”

“But Stacie doesn’t look as good in this one.”

“She literally looks like a goddess in every one of them,” Beca said. “You’re closing your eyes in half of them anyway."

“I was trying not to,” Emily mumbled. “Fine, I’ll post this one. I’m tagging you.”

“Ew, why?”

“You two were totally flirting. Maybe she’ll stalk your page,” Emily said like it was the most reasonable thing in the world.

“Please,” Beca scoffed. “Why would an actual model be into some skater punk who’s banned from a Walmart?”

“Whatever, you could feel the sexual tension from the cereal aisle.”

//

Music pumped through the speakers of The Grind. Beca leaned back in the cashier chair, legs propped up on the counter. She was drumming out rhythms on the counter with pens that were definitely supposed to be used for work. Luke, her manager, came by, sweeping Beca’s feet off of the counter with his arm as he walked past her. Beca squealed as she tried to regain her balance on the stool.

“Hey, asshole. Not cool.”

“Keep your feet off of the counter then, Becky,” Luke yelled over his shoulder while he went to the back of the shop where he made customized boards.

Beca rolled her eyes, pushing herself back again and thumping her Converse back on the counter. Luke and she had known each other for years, working at the same radio station in college - before Beca dropped out. When Luke contacted Beca last year and offered her a job at the skate shop he had just become manager at, she jumped at the offer. They got along well, Luke always saying how Beca reminded him of the annoying sister he never wanted. Luke was one of the few other friends Beca actually had, so she figured she’d keep tagging along with him for a while.

The shop was pretty empty today, so Beca was able to get away with scrolling through her phone. Old notifications filled her screen, and she absentmindedly clicked through them. Most of them were from Instagram, comments on the post Emily tagged her in last week. Her eyes lingered on the photo of Emily and Stacie, mind wandering to the way Stacie was so blatantly flirting with her.

Part of her hoped that somehow they’d meet again, but the tiny, rational side of her brain told her that it was a long shot.

The bell over the door jingled, and moments later an iced coffee was set down on the counter in front of Beca. She glanced up. “Oh, hey CR.”

“Sup, girl. Brought you the usual,” Cynthia Rose said.

“Thanks, dude. I thought you weren’t working today,” Beca mused, taking a sip of the coffee.

“I’m not, just wanted to drop in before I headed to go ink some folks up.”

Cynthia Rose worked part time at The Grind customizing boards and part time at the tattoo shop next door. Beca actually met Cynthia Rose before she even started working at The Grind - CR was the one who did a majority of Beca and Emily’s tattoos.

“By the way, I just saw Junk’s post today. Did y’all really meet Stacie Conrad?” Cynthia Rose asked, leaning on the counter.

Beca hummed an affirmation through her straw. Cynthia Rose mumbled something about getting lucky as she walked toward the back of the shop to see Luke. A text from Emily drew Beca’s attention back to her phone.

//

 _“Stacie, I know I haven’t been your agent for long, but I really wish you’d listen to me.”_ Aubrey’s voice sounded frustrated over the phone.

“I am listening,” Stacie argued. “Look, Aubs, I like you. You’ve already landed me a great new role. But you do have to accept that I’m a little bit of a wild card.”

A few months ago, Stacie finally got fed up with her old agent not listening to her pleas to start breaking away from romcoms. It’s not that Stacie hated doing them, she just knew that there were so many other roles she could be doing. Plus, she didn’t want to be type casted. Aubrey actually approached Stacie first, giving her a promise that she’d help Stacie branch into other genres, even if it killed her. Stacie recognized the genuine care and determination in Aubrey’s eyes, so she hired her on the spot. In a month, Aubrey had an audition for a new sci-fi movie lined up for Stacie. It was only a supporting role, but it was different, which was good enough for Stacie.

“ _You’re due on set in an hour, and you call me to tell me you have other plans? You can’t be this much of a wild card, Stacie. It’s not too late for them to replace you.”_ Stacie sighed. She knew Aubrey was probably right, but she wasn’t going to tell her agent that.

“It’d be their loss. Besides, I’m not playing hooky. I’m just gonna be a little late.” The GPS notified her that she had reached her destination, so she parked her car and turned off the engine. “I have a quick stop to make, it was on the way to set anyway.”

_“What could possibly be so important that you couldn’t wait until later?”_

Stacie grabbed her phone, switching it from the speaker and wedging it between her head and shoulder as she locked up the car. She looked up to see the windows of The Grind, colorful boards carefully displayed. “Just a personal errand.”

 _“Fine. It’ll be easier to defend you if you tell me, though.”_ Aubrey and Stacie toed the line between a friendship and strictly professional relationship, but they knew were the boundaries had to stay up.

Stacie considered telling Aubrey for a moment, but she honestly wasn’t sure what to say. She had come here on an impulse, based solely on the fact that she couldn’t get Beca out of her head.

Maybe it would’ve been easier to shake the thoughts if Emily hadn’t tagged her in that post. She didn’t think much of it at first, but then she realized that Emily had given her easy access to Beca’s Instagram.

There wasn’t much to see, just a lot of tattoos, promotions for The Grind, and a handful of videos of Beca and Emily goofing around (these Stacie watched for an embarrassing amount of time, but they were just so _cute._ Beca seemed to be a bit of a wild card herself, but Stacie could’ve told you that from the second she saw Beca clinging to the shelf of Walmart).

Stacie honestly didn’t plan on coming to the skate shop where Beca worked. But here she was, so she might as well make the most of it.

“Look,” Stacie finally responded to Aubrey. “If my detour turns into something significant, I’ll tell you over lunch tomorrow. If not, then you won’t have to worry about it.”

“ _Will you be telling me as my client or my friend?”_

“Both.”

 _“That means it’s a romantic endeavor.”_ Stacie could practically hear the inner conflict in Aubrey’s voice. _“I won’t ask any more questions until I see you.”_

“Thanks, Aubrey. Let the crew know I won’t be too late,” Stacie said goodbye, then hung up.

A bell rang as she pushed open the door of the shop. It was a lot to take in, music was blasting, colors from customized boards where everywhere, and there was a distinct smell of fast food lingering. Stacie admitted she felt a little out of place with her high heels and floral dress. A voice broke her from her thoughts.

“Hey, welcome to The Grind. Let me know if there’s anything I can help you with.”

Stacie found the source of the voice, and smiled when she saw a tiny brunette scrolling through her phone, feet propped up next to the register. It was clear Beca hadn’t even glanced up, apparently not caring enough, her greeting a conditioned response to hearing the bell.

Heels clicked across the floor as Stacie strut over to the counter. “Oh, I think I have a certain little piece in mind.”

Beca jerked her head up, meeting Stacie’s eyes. “Stacie? What are you doing here?”

“Maybe I’m here to look at skateboards, Beca,” Stacie narrowed her eyes, feigning offense at the assumption that Stacie wouldn’t be a skater.

“Seriously? Well, I can show you around if you want. We have some really nice ones that…” Stacie smiled, trying not to laugh at Beca’s obliviousness. “Oh, you were joking.”

“Yep. Not much of a skater.”

“So...why are you here then?” Beca asked, looking utterly confused. The way her eyebrows scrunched together and her tiny frown was adorable.

Stacie had to refrain from saying, “ _To see you, dumbass.”_

“Our conversation got cut short last week. I believe the manager mumbled something about a tricycle?” Stacie tapped her finger on her chin.

“Ha, yeah. That guy might just start putting up wanted posters for me soon.” Stacie laughed, and Beca smiled in response. “Sorry I ran out so fast, but you get the deal. How’d you even find the shop?”

Stacie didn’t exactly want to elaborate on how she had stalked Beca’s Instagram, so she simply answered, “By the post your friend tagged me in.” It wasn’t a lie. Even just from Emily’s instagram Stacie could’ve found The Grind. “Does she skate too?”

“Emily? Not really. She just likes helping promote the shop in exchange for some promos for her music. I’m the only one in the Mitchell-Junk household who can skate.” Beca said the statement with pride, finally easing fully into the conversation. Stacie decided to seize the opportunity.

“You know, you’ll have to show me your moves sometime.” Just to make sure Beca didn’t miss the subtext, Stacie punctuated the statement with a wink.

The skater apparently got the hint, because a prominent blush creeped its way up her face. “Oh, yeah okay cool. That can, uh. We could do that.”

“Could I take you to lunch one day?” Stacie asked before she could stop herself. The original plan was just to hook up with Beca. Surprisingly, Stacie found herself okay with her impulsive decision.

Beca hesitated for a second, fidgeting with the straw of her iced coffee and biting her lip. Stacie started getting a little nervous, which was unusual. Normally she was always able to remain confident and forward when flirting. It was effortless; but Beca’s casual, aloof demeanor threw her system off. It made her have to work a little harder, be more patient. Beca looked back up. Stacie tried reading her eyes, but she just got distracted by how pretty and blue they were.

_Oh my god, pull yourself together._

“Before I say yes, can I ask a question?”

“Sure.”

“Is this a date?”

Stacie blinked. Okay, she was aware that at first glance, most people would peg her as a “too pretty to be a lesbian” (ugh, _gag,_ for like, ten different reasons _)_. But her flirting was blatantly obvious.

She answered Beca, trying to keep the amusement out of her voice. “Yes, it’s a date.”

This apparently made Beca a little less nervous, grateful that she knew Stacie’s intentions with her. “Alright, dope. When?”

“I’m booked tomorrow, but what about Friday?” Stacie silently wished that she hadn’t agreed to have lunch with Aubrey tomorrow, but at least that gave her time to warn her agent before inevitable paparazzi photos of Beca and Stacie on a date surfaced.

“I can do that. I do have one condition.” Stacie raised an eyebrow. “No place fancy. I’d probably get kicked out anyway.”

Stacie figured she could live with that. It was just a first date after all. “Okay, I can do that.”

They made arrangements for Stacie to pick up Beca from The Grind right before her lunch break. Stacie asked if Beca needed to check with her boss first, but Beca just shrugged and said he’d have to deal with it. _Yep, definitely my type of girl._

After they exchanged numbers, Stacie’s phone started lighting up with texts. She groaned when she saw that they were all coming from Aubrey, yelling at her to get her ass to her table read.

“I’ve gotta run. I’ll see you Friday, Beca. Don’t flake out on me,” Stacie pointed a finger playfully at Beca as she walked towards the door.

“I won’t if you won’t, Stace!” Beca said, making an _‘I’m watching you’_ gesture, sticking her tongue out as well. Stacie rolled her eyes.

This date was going to be interesting.

//

“You’re joking, right?”

“Nope.”

“So, you’re telling me that you met a girl because she was climbing on the shelves of a Walmart trying to find peanut butter crackers, immediately ran away from the manager because she’s banned, and your instinct is to stalk her and ask her out on a date?”

“I didn’t _stalk_ her. When someone tags you in a pic, you gotta go through their profile.” Stacie shrugged like it was the most logical thing in the universe.

Aubrey sat across from her, not touching her salad at all. Her lips were drawn in a thin line, they way they appeared when Stacie did something that could hurt her career. Stacie could tell by the way Aubrey’s eyes were twitching every so slightly that she was trying to choose her wording carefully. After all, she wanted Stacie to be happy.

“I’m just trying to think of what’s best for you. Both your career and your personal life. And someone who does something so...stupid won’t look great for you.”  

“I know that, Aubrey,” Stacie said. “But you do realize I haven’t even gone out with Beca yet. It’s not like we’re getting married tomorrow. It’s just a first date.”

“That’s true,” Aubrey admitted. “But first date implies there’ll be more.”

Stacie wrinkled her nose at Aubrey. “Not necessarily.”

“It isn’t like you to ask someone out on a date. It’s usually ‘hey, come back to my place with me’. I’ve only been hanging around you for a couple of months and I know that this is out of the ordinary.”

Aubrey was right. Stacie hadn’t had a real relationship since...

She’s honestly not sure.

“What is it about this Beca girl that’s caught your attention, Stacie?” Aubrey asked, genuine curiosity in her voice. Stacie held up her index finger, asking Aubrey to give her a second as she pulled up Instagram. She found a picture of Beca and Emily and held out her phone for Aubrey to see.

“For one thing, she’s hot as fuck,” Stacie stated plainly.

Aubrey took the phone from Stacie, staring at the photo. “Damn, okay Stacie. She’s pretty attractive.”

“ _Pretty attractive?_ ” Stacie scoffed.

“Okay, really attractive.”

“C’mon, Aubs. Tattoos? Piercings? The gayest outfits I’ve ever seen? Plus gorgeous eyes and a permanent lazy smirk on her dumb, pretty face. Beca is more than ‘pretty’ or ‘really’ attractive. She’s the total package.”

“Wait, piercings? Are you talking about the girl on the right or the left?” Aubrey’s eyes shifted between Stacie and the phone.

“The right. The other girl is Emily. She’s Beca’s roommate, I think. A real sweetheart too.”

“Oh.”

Stacie saw a rare moment of weakness in her agent as Aubrey’s eyes lingered on the photo with great interest. “So, you think Emily’s really attractive, huh?”

“No. I mean, she’s fine.”

“That’s not what you said five seconds ago.”

“Fine, whatever. It doesn’t matter,” Aubrey huffed, shoving Stacie’s phone back towards her. Stacie smirked. Aubrey pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. “Get that smirk off your face, Conrad. Besides, we’re not done talking about you.”

“Ugh. Aubrey.”

“Shush, you knew I was going to interrogate you when you asked me to lunch.” Aubrey couldn’t help smirking. “If Beca was _just_ hot, you would’ve just taken her home for the night like you normally do. This is a real date, Stace.”

“I’m aware,” Stacie remained unmoved. She wasn’t ready to say why she had fixated so strongly on Beca. Mainly because she wasn’t sure herself.

Aubrey got the hint and changed the subject.

//

“I’m home!” The door slammed shut. Beca looked up from her laptop and watched as Emily pet Ella, the former-stray cat that Emily ended up taking in. The grey cat wound herself through Emily’s legs, and the brunette giggled.

“Sup, dude. Did you bring dinner?”

“Of course.” Emily held up a McDonald’s bag. Beca slammed her laptop shut and hopped over the couch to take the bag from Emily. She opened it and fished around.

“Hey, you ate fries out of the bag again, asshole.”

“Did not. They came like that.”

“A large fry doesn’t come half filled.”

“Fine, detective, take the other one and stop whining.” Emily snatched the bag back to retrieve her own food. “How was your day, Becs?”

“It was whatever,” Beca said while chewing a chicken nugget. “Oh, I did get asked out on a date though.”

“Holy shit, are you serious?” Emily looked at Beca eagerly. “Tell me all about them! Name, appearance, zodiac sign! Give me the deats!”

“It’s actually with Stacie.”

“...Conrad?”

“Yeah.”

“STACIE CONRAD ASKED YOU OUT?”

//

Once Friday rolled around, Stacie entered The Grind, expecting to see Beca behind the counter like the other day. Instead, she was greeted with a tiny body practically slamming into her. Stacie moved swiftly, catching Beca as she tumbled off of the board she had attempted to do a trick on.

The tiny brunette looked up at Stacie with a lopsided grin. “Oops. Sorry dude.”

Stacie chuckled and helped Beca stand upright again. “Is that how you always greet a date?”

“Nah. I’m even less smooth normally.” Beca pushed the skateboard with her foot, gliding it across the room so it hit some guy in the ankles. Stacie saw Beca cringe out of the corner of her eye. “My bad, Luke.”

“Just go take your break, Becky.”

Stacie raised an eyebrow. “Becky?”

“Luke’s my manager. We’ve known each other for years, but when we first met, he was convinced my name was Becky for a solid six months. It’s kind of an inside joke now.” Beca looked at him with fondness in her eyes. Stacie gave him a friendly wave as he stepped into the back room. “I guess that means I’m free to go then.”

“Seems like it. Come on, I’ll drive.” Stacie gestured to her car as they stepped outside.

“Wait,” Beca stopped after she opened the door. Stacie watched as Beca patted her thighs and butt, presumably checking her pockets. “Shit, where the fuck did I put that cash?”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about it. I can pay.” Stacie really didn’t mind. She had honestly planned on it anyway.

“No, I specifically grabbed cash for this. I don’t wanna make you pay for me. I’m a strong independent woman,” Beca mumbled, talking more to herself than Stacie. The actress shrugged, slipping into the driver’s seat and starting the ignition. Beca was still outside the vehicle, turning out her pockets. Various things spilled out of them - gum wrappers, mints, a ketchup packet - all of which Beca picked back up and stored them in her jeans again.

The skater finally gasped a little “oh!” and ripped her Vans off, grabbing a crumpled stack of various bills from the bottom. She slipped the shoe back on (Stacie could see that the heel wasn’t actually on Beca’s foot) and slid into the car, smiling victoriously. “I found it!”

Stacie couldn’t help but smile as she pulled out of the parking lot. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re kind of a dork? I mean that in the nicest way possible. It’s cute.”

“I’m not a dork, and I’m not cute.” Beca’s nose wrinkled. “I’m cool, badass, punk-rock. All applicable adjectives. But dorky and cute? I don’t think so.”

“Sure,” Stacie said, unconvinced. “So, how long have you worked at The Grind?”

“I think two years this year? Dunno, it feels like forever.”

Stacie nodded and they rode in relative silence to the diner Stacie had picked out. Stacie sang along to the radio, and she could hear Beca singing occasionally as well.

Barden Diner was one of Stacie’s favorite spots. It was kind of a hidden gem, so this was where the actress went when she wanted to get away from the paparazzi. She figured this had to be lowkey enough for Beca. Her judgement proved her right when Beca’s eyes lit up at the classic diner, complete with red vinyl seats and a working jukebox.

“This place is dope.”

“Yeah,” Stacie nodded, not even bothering to open her menu. “It’s rare you see anyone under the age of sixty here. Besides a few locals who know how awesome this place is. And the random actor or singer here and there.”

“Hm, do you know if their chicken tenders are good?”

“Not sure.”

“What about their burgers?”

“Aubrey tells me they’re pretty good,” Stacie recalled her first dinner with Aubrey.

“Who’s Aubrey?” Beca asked after they ordered their food.

“Oh, she’s my agent. Helps me keep on schedule, get auditions, stuff like that.” Stacie leaned forward on her elbows. “You’ll probably meet her at some point.”

Beca hummed. “How long have you been like, an actor or whatever?”

“I guess you’re not a fan then, huh?” Stacie laughed.

Beca’s eyes widened. “Oh! Uh...I mean, I totally am. I’ve seen your movies. The one where you date that...guy.”

“That describes basically all of my career.”

“Okay, you caught me.” Beca put her hands up. “I don’t really like movies. Honestly, I hate them for the most part.”

“Same.”

“I know, it’s like your whole career - wait, did you say same?” Stacie nodded. “Oh. Then why…”

Stacie found the confused look on Beca’s face adorable. The way she was scrunching her eyebrows together made it look like she was mentally making a conspiracy theory board.

“I don’t hate _all_ movies,” Stacie corrected. The waitress came back and put their food on the table. Stacie noticed the way she was carefully watching the two of them, definitely recognizing Stacie. Beca didn’t notice, though, and was busy digging into her burger eagerly. “I just hate the movies I’m always in. Rom-coms desperately need a reboot.”

“Rom-coms suck,” Beca said through a mouthful. “No offense, I’m sure yours are great.”

“Thanks,” Stacie smiled. “They do suck though. Had to do them though. My next movie will be a lot better though. Sci-fi. Not a big role, but my character is pretty cool. She’s a chemist.” Stacie was starting to feel like she was boring Beca. “But who cares, right? Tell me about you, Beca.”

“We don’t have to. I’m not anything special.”

“Come on, I’m sure that’s not true.” Stacie could see the insecurity in Beca’s eyes. “You don’t have to tell me your place of birth or what you did in high school or even the skate shop if you don’t want. Just whatever fun story comes to mind.”

“Fun story?”

“Yeah! I love stories. The stranger, the better.”

“Well, I’ve stolen two shopping carts, but that’s about it.”

“Why did you - ”

“Wait, my bad. Three shopping carts.”

“Explain,” Stacie demanded.

“The first one was an impulse thing. It’s like, have you ever just seen a shopping cart at the very edge of the parking lot and thought ‘huh, I could steal that’.”

“No, never in my entire life.”

“Well, I thought that, and I did it. That’s actually how Emily and I met.” Stacie listened carefully, trying not to laugh at how casually Beca said all of this. “I jumped in it so I could speed down a hill away from some employee yelling at me. And - ”

“Wait, pause. Was this at Walmart? Is that why you’re banned?”

“No, this was a Whole Foods. The one near The Grind. Walmart was the tricycle incident,” Beca clarified.  

“Gotcha. Continue.” Stacie had hardly touched her food. She was too wrapped up in learning as much about Beca as possible. But like, the important parts, like which stores she was banned from.

“Basically I crashed. Emily saw me and took me to the hospital. And the rest is history,” Beca smiled fondly at the memories.

“What about the other two carts?”

“Oh! Well…”

The rest of their meal and the drive to drop Beca off was filled with stories about Beca’s many adventures. Beca convinced Stacie to tell her more about herself, how she became an actor and such, but Stacie favored talking about her life before fame. She told Beca about growing up in Pennsylvania and being the biggest theatre nerd in the whole state (which Beca did not fail to make fun of). Stacie loved hearing Beca laugh at all of her dramatic stories from her teen years.

Stacie parked in front of Beca and Emily’s house, swiftly moving so she could open the car door for Beca.

“Wow, so chivalrous, Ms. Conrad,” Beca smirked.

“Just call me your knight in shining armor.” Stacie winked and let Beca lead her to the front door. “I had a really fun time, Beca.”

“Oh, are you not...You’re leaving?” Beca looked a little disappointed.

“Do you want me come in?” Stacie asked. That was usually how her dates went, anyway. But she didn’t know if Beca wanted that. This date felt different from her previous ones.

Better, though.

“I mean, I didn’t want to assume that - ”

“No, no! We don’t have to if you don’t want. I just thought that since you drove me - ”

“You needed a ride home, and I had a car  - ”

“Of course! Right, right.”

“I can come in, if you want. But if you don’t - ”

“Whatever you’re comfortable with!”

After talking over each other rapidly, they were suddenly standing in silence. Stacie let out something between a sigh and a laugh. She had never been in this situation before. Most of her dates were _solely_ hookups, so why was the thought of doing the same with Beca making her so awkward?

“How about this,” Stacie finally spoke. “I think I’m going to go home tonight. But I’d like to see you again soon. Like, soon soon. So, text me when you’re free.”

“That sounds good.” Beca grinned at the prospect of going on another date with Stacie.

“Good.” Stacie smiled back. “But in the meantime, I’ll give you something to remember me by.”

“What is it?” Stacie stepped forward, reaching up to cup Beca’s face. Her eyes trailed to Beca’s lips. “Oh. Yeah, that’ll work.”

Beca surprised Stacie by leaning up to press their lips together. It was gentle, but Stacie could feel it through her whole body. She felt Beca’s hands move to her waist, thumbs tugging at her belt loops. Stacie had to pull away first. One more second of Beca’s lips on hers was bound to end in them stumbling into the house together. Beca pouted when Stacie pulled back.

“Sorry, Beca,” Stacie smirked and kissed the smaller girl’s nose. “Gotta give you something to look forward to.”

On the ride home, Stacie felt like her whole body was floating on a cloud.

Stacie kind of regrets not going inside with Beca.

//

Beca walked into the house with a dopey smile on her face, walking to the fridge and grabbing a beer. Her phone buzzes in her pocket, and she lights up at the name. The text brings her back to reality, though.

**[Stacie]: forgot to tell u, be prepared to possibly see urself in some celeb news**

**[Stacie]: thought the diner wouldn’t have any paparazzi, but our waitress def knew who i was**

**[Beca]: ok nbd. drive safe**

**[Stacie]: i will. night beca xox**

_Holy shit, this is actually real. I actually just went on a date with a celebrity._ Beca’s smile falters a bit. She’s caught up in her thoughts when Emily emerges from her room.

“Hey, you’re back! I’m surprised you’re not busy, if you know what I mean,” Emily wiggled her eyebrows.

“Calm your brows, Em.” Beca didn’t have the energy to sound grumpy.

“Considering you were on the porch for like, five minutes before you came in, I assume it went amazing. Not that I was watching, that sounds creepy.”

“I guess I’d call it pretty amazing. She’s rad.” Beca took a swig of her beer.

“ _Rad?_ Seriously, Beca? You just went on a date with my favorite actress of all time, who’s amazingly attractive and cool, and all you can say is that she’s _rad?_ How am I even friends with you?”

Beca rolled her eyes at Emily’s dramatics.

“Okay, Becs. Why are you acting weird? Are you just pretending it went well?” Emily started looking at Beca with concerned eyes. Beca looked away from Emily and shrugged.

“Do we have to have a patented Mitchell-Junk heart to heart?” Emily asked.

“Emily, no,” Beca groaned. But Emily was already tugging her towards the door. Her roommate grabbed a more beers and their longboards on their way out.

This was always their way of cheering each other up. They’d ride their boards, get a little tipsy, and listen to music on full blast. It was also Emily’s way of getting Beca to talk about what was bothering her. Something about the combination of alcohol and the comfort of skating relaxed her so she’d open up.

Emily didn’t bring the date up for a while. She talked about her day as they skated up and down the street, recalling stories about each of her various dance students. Emily knew Beca only half-listened, but her anecdotes were good background noise for Beca while she sorted through her thoughts.

Eventually, Emily got tired of skating and planted herself on the sidewalk in front of their house. Beca stood in front of her and pushed her board back and forth along the pavement while she drink her third beer. After a while of silence on Beca’s part, Emily asked, “Are you okay?”

Beca nodded.

“Are you ready to talk about your date now?”

She nodded again. Emily leaned back on her hands and looked at her roommate expectantly.

“It went great, it honestly did. Stacie is super amazing and talented and smart. And like, she’s super considerate too. She let me talk about my lame ass life for most of it.”

“She didn’t talk about acting?”

“Kinda. She talked about how she did theatre in high school and stuff, but not like _real_ acting. I think she was trying to make me feel like it wasn’t a date with a celebrity. Which it did, and I liked that. But then she texted me about possible photos surfacing of our date and it kind of hit me that she _is_ super famous.”

“So, you’re bothered by your date not exactly being private?”

“It’s not even that,” Beca sighed, moving to sit next to Emily. She rested her arms on her knees and started waving them around as she talked. “I think I’m really caught up on the fact that she like, asked me out in the first place. Stacie could easily date whoever she fucking wanted, even if she _wasn’t_ famous, and she went out with me? Doesn’t that seem weird?”

Emily mulled this over for a moment.

“I guess it’s not what you’d expect,” she answered. “But I don’t think it’s something you should overthink. Stacie obviously likes you. Don’t worry about shit like that unless she gives you reason to. Does she want a second date?”

“Yeah, she basically demanded one,” Beca finally smiled a bit.

“That’s awesome! See, you shouldn’t worry about it. She’s already watched you run from the Walmart manager. I wouldn’t even wanna date you after that,” Emily laughed.

“Emily!” Beca gasped dramatically, clutching her heart. “I am hurt.”

“Shut up, loser.” Emily shoved Beca with her shoulder. Beca jabbed her in the ribs in response. “Ow! Better now?”

“Yeah,” Beca admitted. “Thank you. I guess you’re good for something besides eating my food.”

“Wow, what a sincere thank you,” Emily deadpanned.

“Fine, nerd. You’re a great friend or whatever. The best around.”

“I know,” Emily hummed.

//

Turns out Emily’s advice was helpful after all. Beca would never tell her she was right though.

A few days after their first date, Beca texted Stacie and asked if she’d want to go out again. Stacie quickly agreed and cleared her schedule so they could go to dinner together. The night ended with Stacie taking them to her house and fulfilling the promises she had made to Beca before.

Beca was about to start putting her clothes back on and leave, but Stacie tugged her back towards her bed.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Stacie asked quietly.

“I didn’t know if you wanted me to stay.”

“Why don’t you ask then?”

“Oh.” Beca felt stupid. “Do you want me to...Can I stay?”

“Please do,” Stacie hummed, shifting as Beca crawled back into her bed. Beca moved to rest her head on Stacie’s chest, clinging close to her. “You know, I wouldn't have pegged you as a cuddler, Beca.”

“What can I say? I’m full of surprises,” Beca mumbled.

They laid together in silence, and Beca started to drift off to sleep. Her eyes were only barely open when Stacie said, “You know, I was kind of afraid of taking you home tonight.”

“Really?” Beca was wide awake now. _Stacie_ was afraid of taking _Beca_ home? “Why? You’re like, so cool and confident.”

“I am,” Stacie agreed. “But I have kind of a reputation for having one-night stands. Lots of flings. That’s kind of why I didn’t sleep with you after our first date. I didn’t want you to think it was purely a sex thing. Don’t get me wrong, the sex was still great.”

“I’ll say,” Beca said, shivering a bit at the memory of Stacie’s mouth and hands on her no more than twenty minutes ago. She pushed that feeling aside for a minute though. “Then why were you still nervous about tonight though?”

“I dunno. Just don’t want you to think that now that I’ve fucked you, I got what I wanted and it’s over now.” Stacie’s voice sounded distant, a stark contrast to her usual boldness. “I guess I can’t exactly blame people for thinking I only use people for sex. I haven’t exactly proved them wrong.”

“They’re all assholes who think someone cares about their dumbass opinion.” Beca snorted. “Besides, you shouldn’t worry about me, Stacie,” Beca reassured her, shifting so she could make eye contact with Stacie. “You can use me for sex all you want.”

Stacie started laughing, “Oh, yeah?”

Stacie’s hands traced delicately down Beca’s spine. She couldn’t help but shudder.

“Yep,” Beca’s voice came out shaky as Stacie rolled her onto her back again. “Sex and going out to eat food. That’s all I’m good for.”

“False,” Stacie said, moving to kiss along Beca’s jaw. “You’re good at stealing things and making me laugh. And I definitely want to see you again by the way.” She trailed down Beca’s body, leaving kisses in her wake.

“That sounds good,” Beca gasped when she felt Stacie’s mouth sucking a hickey on her thigh.

“Good,” Stacie smirked. “But speaking of eating out…”

//

Emily sat on the counter, kicking her feet against it. Beca was leaning back on the stool behind the cashier as usual, tossing a hacky sack between her hands. Emily had the day off, so she decided the best use of her time would be to bother her roommate at work. Not like Beca was working very hard anyway, The Grind was empty.

“Alright, what about this,” Beca said. “ For a million dollars, would you walk into Luke’s office shirtless?”

“No!” Emily squealed, reflexively moving to cover her chest.

“C’mon, Em. It’s _one million dollars._ For what? Luke seeing your tits for two seconds? Not doing it is just a poor financial decision. You wouldn’t even _theoretically_ do it?”

“I don’t know, Luke kinda intimidates me,” Emily argued. “He’s all muscle and tattoos…”

“So are you,” Beca pointed out. “You’re already like, basically shirtless now.”

Emily looked down at her outfit, ripped jeans and a black crop top. “Not really. Everything important is covered.”

“Except your rockin’ abs,” Beca winked and clicked her tongue. Emily rolled her eyes. “Fine, you wouldn’t do it. Ask me one.”

“Okay,” Emily thought for a second. Neither of them heard the bell ring as two people walked in. “For a million dollars, would _you_ walk into Luke’s office shirtless?”

“Hell yeah!” Beca answered confidently. “Like I said, it’s just a smart financial choice at that point.”

“Sorry, can’t say I approve. No one else should be seeing you shirtless,” a familiar voice brought Beca and Emily out of their game.

“Hi, Stacie!” Emily grinned, jumping down off the counter. The two braids that were in her hair hit Beca’s face as she hopped over the counter.

“Ouch. Watch those things.”

“Sorry,” Emily snickered.

“Not that I’m unhappy about it, but what are you doing here?” Beca asked Stacie. “Shit, we didn’t have a date today, did we? I thought that was tomorrow…”

“No, you’re fine, babe,” Stacie assured her. They had been seeing each other for a few weeks now, at least twice a week. Usually the same pattern of going out to eat and then going home, though. Except once when they just drove down the roads blasting music out of Stacie’s car together. “I just thought I would drop in. Plus, Aubrey really wanted to meet you…”

Beca had noticed the disgruntled looking blonde woman watching the two of them carefully. Although, her eyes kept darting to Emily. Stacie mentioning her brought her attention back to them.

“That would be me. Aubrey Posen, Stacie’s agent,” she announced this so formally, as if this was a job interview. Beca had to restrain herself from making a snarky comment.

“Which basically means she controls my life,” Stacie rolled her eyes, but there was a fond smile on her face as well. Beca guessed that Stacie and Aubrey got along pretty well.

Somehow.

“Essentially, yes,” Aubrey said. “I just wanted to see where you worked, Beca.”

“Why?”

“It’s part of my job to keep Stacie’s image as it should be,” Aubrey explained. “And after what she’s told me about you, I thought there was reason for...concern.”

“Oh? And why would that be, Ms. Agent?” Beca didn’t mean to sound so defensive. She felt a hand on her shoulder and didn’t know if it was Stacie or Emily’s. By the strong grip, she guessed Stacie’s. Emily had moved back onto the counter, pretending to scroll through her phone while listening to this interaction play out.

“You’ve stolen numerous things and are banned from multiple locations,” Aubrey’s voice was cold and blunt. “Don’t get defensive, Beca. I’d do this with anyone Stacie was engaging with. She needs to keep her reputation in tact. Especially since she’s starring in a summer blockbuster. It’s just business. And I’d appreciate it if you took it seriously.”

“Aubrey, will you stop playing your intimidation game and get to the point?” Stacie’s voice made it sound more like a demand than a question.

“Right.” Aubrey looked down, a little embarrassed by Stacie calling her out. “You guys have gone on a ton of dates at this point, so now people are starting to read into you hanging out so much.”

“What do you mean?” Beca looked at Stacie for explanation instead of Aubrey.

“Paparazzi, babe.”

“Exactly,” Aubrey said, pulling out her phone. She showed Beca an article.

There was a picture of Beca and Stacie eating outside at some fancy cafe Stacie brought her to last week. Under that, there was a photo of the two of them holding hands on their way to the car. The headline read: “ _Stacie Conrad Spends The Day With Her New Best Friend”._

“Best friend, my ass,” Beca scoffed. “Gal pal situation aside, that title is already taken. Right, Emily?”

“Hmm?” Emily looked up from her phone. “I stopped listening.”

“Whatever,” Beca turned back to Aubrey, who was still glancing at Emily. “Why does this matter?”

“People are noticing you, so anything you do could be associated with Stacie. It’s not necessarily a problem yet, though.”

“When does it become a problem then, oh Wise One?”

“When you two go public with your relationship,” Aubrey answered, putting her phone back in her purse. “This is just a heads up, Beca. Try not to get banned from anywhere else. Or arrested.”

“WIll do, chief.” Beca mock saluted. Stacie chuckled.

“That’s all I have to say. Stacie, are you leaving or staying?”

“Is your shift almost done?” Stacie asked Beca.

“Yeah, I can head out anytime. Emily and I were gonna chill tonight.” Beca stuffed her hands in her pockets and nodded towards Emily.

“I think I’ll hang out with these two, Aubrey,” Stacie said.

“Alright,” Aubrey nodded as she glanced around the room. “Is there a bathroom in this skate shack?”

Beca’s jaw clenched at the tone that Aubrey’s voice held, like The Grind was about as classy as a gas station. Emily noticed the change in Beca’s demeanor and quickly rushed to her aide.

“Here, I’ll show you where it is,” she said cheerily. Beca relaxed a little, silently thanking Emily. “You two can go ahead to the house if you want.”

“You sure, Emily?” Stacie asked, twirling her car keys in her hand.

“Yeah, I drove here, I’m fine,” Emily smiled before leading Aubrey to the back of the shop, already starting a conversation with her easily. “The bathroom is in like, a really dumb place. I think it has to do with whatever this building was before? Luke says that -”

Beca rolled her eyes at Emily’s friendliness. She didn't have a chance to comment before Stacie started ushering her to the car.

“So I suspect you’re not a big fan of Aubrey, babe?” Stacie asked.

“She’s fine,” Beca shrugged. Then, under her breath she added, “If you like uptight, arrogant, blunt bitc - ”

“You know,” Stacie interrupted, a knowing smirk on her face. “Aubrey thinks Emily is really attractive.”

“Nope, stop talking.”

“Like, _really_ attractive. I’ve never seen her so interested in someone.”

“I will jump out of this car.”

“Do you think they’d fuck in the bathro - ”

“SHUT UP! SHUT UP!”  

//

“Read this one,” Beca lifted her phone so Stacie could read it over her head. Beca was nestled into Stacie’s front on the couch, and they were both scrolling through headlines and tweets regarding the paparazzi photos of the two of them.

“‘ _Stacie and BFF Share a Milkshake’._ Can you believe they actually think this wasn’t gay? It’s a classic date thing, these 50s nostalgia-heads should know that,” Beca scoffed.

“‘ _Stacie Out On The Town With New Bestie’._ Oh my god, they actually use the word ‘bestie’ unironically. I hate that so much. My fans are so much better at this than those dumb gossip websites.” Stacie rested her head on Beca’s shoulder.

“Oh totally,” Beca agreed. “This tweet is my favorite.”

“What’s it say?”

Beca cleared her throat and started speaking in an over exaggerated tone. “‘ _Y’all dumbasses saying these two are just friends??? I haven’t seen girls this gay since I went to the Hayley Kiyoko concert.”_

“Oh shit, that’s great,” Stacie laughed. “It’s better than all the stuff I’m seeing. All heteronormative garbage. Either saying we’re best friends or speculation that I’m dating my co-star Jesse. Or that I’m just sleeping with him. Like, ugh! Just let me fuck my girlfriend in peace.”

Stacie kept scrolling angrily through her phone, but Beca was stuck on the last thing she said.

“Did you say girlfriend?” Beca asked, turning around to face Stacie.

“Girlfr - no,” Stacie laughed as if that word had never even existed. “I definitely didn’t say that...did I?”

“Oh, you so did,” Beca smirked. She settled herself in Stacie’s lap, her hands moving to the back of Stacie’s neck. “Stacie Conrad, do you want me, humble little Beca Mitchell to be your _girlfriend?_ ”

“I...yeah,” Stacie said hesitantly. Her eyes darted to Beca’s lips briefly. “But we can just keep going on dates and having sex. Label or no label. I’m fine either way. If you don’t want to make it official…”

“You’re so stupid,” Beca mumbled before leaning forward and capturing Stacie’s lips. Stacie moved against her easily, hands gripping Beca’s thighs like an anchor. Beca gasped and pulled back. “Of course I want to be your girlfriend, dumbass.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Stacie. I’m as sure as I am gay.”

“Damn, that’s pretty sure then,” Stacie chuckled. “Guess that means I can call you my girlfriend now and show those tabloids a thing or two. Let them gal pal us now.”

“Yeah, whatever you want babe,” Beca said, eyes fixated on Stacie’s lips. “But I think we should celebrate.”

Stacie smirked and connected their lips again, her movements fast and needy. Beca let out a soft noise of approval when Stacie started kissing from her jaw to her neck. She felt Stacie’s hands creeping under her shirt when suddenly she heard a squeal from across the room. Stacie and Beca both looked up to see Emily standing there covering her eyes.

“I’m so sorry! I should’ve texted and said I was home or something!” Emily spoke rapidly.

“Emily, it’s fine,” Stacie said, giggling at the younger girl’s embarrassment.

“Speak for yourself,” Beca mumbled under her breath. She raised her voice to speak to Emily. “Uncover your eyes, dork. We’re fully clothed.”

Emily dropped her hands and gave them an awkward smile.

“What took you so long, anyway?” Beca asked. “I thought Aubrey might have murdered you.”

Stacie rolled her eyes. But Emily lit up at the question.

“Oh! Aubrey didn’t murder me. After she came back from the bathroom, I was still there because I couldn’t find my keys. She helped me find them and while we were still there, one of my songs you showed Luke started playing over the speakers. And I was like ‘oh, my song!’. And Aubrey was like ‘did you write this?’, and I was like ‘yeah!’”

“Can we speed this up a little, Em?” Beca raised an eyebrow. She rolled off Stacie to grab a drink from the fridge.

“Sorry. Basically, we talked for a while, and it was super nice! She asked me about my music and stuff, and I told her it’s just a hobby. But she said I was super talented and should consider it more seriously. I don’t think I will, because of the dance studio and I told her that and she thought that was super cool too! Aubrey’s super nice, Beca. You just gotta talk to her more,” Emily insisted.

“Somehow I don’t think we’ll get along as well,” Beca replied, drinking orange juice straight from the carton.

“You got that right,” Stacie agreed, leaning forward on the counter. “Oh, Emily. How should we celebrate tonight?”

“Celebrate?” Emily said, confused. “Usually to celebrate something, Beca and I get really drunk, and Beca tries to steal something. Or we just sing really loud and wake up the neighbors. What are we celebrating?”

“Beca and I are officially girlfriends,” Stacie grinned, already sensing Emily’s excitement.

“Oh my stars, are you shitting me? I swear if you dicks are joking...”

“I can’t believe those were real sentences that came out of your mouth, Em,” Beca laughed. “Actually, no. I can believe it.”

//

“Alright losers!” Beca’s words were slurred. “This time it’ll work.”

Stacie rolled her eyes. Her _girlfriend -_ okay, she’s still a little giddy about it - had been trying to show off for a half hour. Of course, it’s hard to do cool skate tricks when you’re drunk. Both Stacie and Emily had only gotten tipsy and were sobered by now, but Beca - the lightweight - was stumbling all over herself trying to show off and rambling on about how hot Stacie was.

Not that Stacie minded that part.

But she was watching Beca carefully to make sure the dork didn’t hurt herself. Beca was staring at her board with intense concentration. Her foot hovered over one end of the board, and there was a can of beer on the other end. Beca stomped down and the can went flying. Into the neighbors yard.

“Crap.”

“I think that can was empty,” Emily pointed out.

“Were you trying to create a catapult? Because if so, great job, babe,” Stacie smirked.

Beca pouted. “No. I clearly wanted to catch it.”

“Go get it, Becs,” Emily chimed in. “The neighbors already hate us.”

Beca stomped off through the bushes dividing the front yards.

“You think she’ll get caught?” Stacie asked.

Emily shrugged. She rolled her own board back and forth on the pavement.

“So, what do you think of Aubrey?”

“Like I said, she’s really nice. Aubrey actually gave me her number,” Emily said. “She said it was if I ever needed a agent if I wanted to pursue music. Then I told her about it just being a hobby, and she insisted I keep her number anyway. ‘Just in case’, she said. It’s nice. She’s looking out for me, I guess.”

“Emily, honey. I say this in the kindest way, but you’re so oblivious.” Stacie placed a hand on Emily’s shoulder.

“Oblivious?”

“She’s _flirting_ with you.”

“What?” Emily’s eyebrows scrunched together. “Aubrey? Flirting with me? No.”

“Yes.”

“Why would she...she’s so like, successful and beautiful, and I’m just some dork who works at a dance studio and teaches kids.”

“You’re kidding me right?” Stacie almost laughs. “You’re a total smokeshow, Junk. Did you seriously not notice Aubrey practically _drooling_ over your abs today?”

Emily shook her head.

“If you like her, you should text her,” Stacie said, her voice genuine. “She can be a little rough around the edges, but I know that she has a soft side deep down. Like way deep down.”  

“I got it guys!” Beca shouted as she stumbled out of the bushes. “I also found these Christmas lights in their trash...do you think they’re broken?”

Stacie watched Beca inspect each lightbulb carefully, one by one. It was kind of precious. Her face was all scrunched up in concentration, and she was treating each bulb like it would break if she so much as looked at it wrong. Her bottom lip jutted out in a pout, and it gave Stacie the unbelievable urge to kiss her.

As much as Stacie wanted to watch her girlfriend adorably stare at Christmas lights all night like she was Winona Ryder, it was late, and Beca definitely was going to do something stupid if she didn’t go to bed. The last thing Stacie wanted to do was call Aubrey and say, _“Hey, Aubrey. Just so you know, Beca and I are officially girlfriends. Oh, also, she just got arrested for trespassing. Love you, bye!”_

That definitely wouldn’t help Aubrey and Beca like each other more.

“Beca.”

No response.

“Beca.”

Nope. Nothing.

Stacie sighed and stood up from her spot. Beca had gotten her hand tangled in the lights and was trying to free herself. Stacie skillfully scooped her girlfriend up in her arms bridal style in one swift move. Beca squealed as Stacie lifted her.

“Oh, Stacie! Hi,” Beca smiled dopily and curled closer to Stacie’s body.

“You always whine when I lift you, babe. What gives?” Stacie raised an eyebrow at her suddenly very cuddly girlfriend.

“She gets all soft when she’s drunk,” Emily pointed out. “Soft and stupid.”

“Sounds like sober Beca also,” Stacie shrugged.

“Well, yeah. But like, even softer and stupider.”

“Where are we going?”

“I’m taking you to bed, baby.”

Emily rushed ahead of Stacie and opened the front door for her, carrying both her and Beca’s boards. Beca was giggling with every other step Stacie took.

“Em Em Em,” Beca said. Stacie paused for Beca to hand Emily the lights. “These would look dope on the shopping cart.”

“That’s the only good idea drunk you has ever produced,” Emily said. “Goodnight, Beca. Night, Stacie.”

Stacie carefully dropped Beca onto her bed, tugging her jeans and maneuvering her bra off of her. Beca was mumbling incoherent things as Stacie slipped into bed next to her. She scooted closer, and Stacie fit herself into Beca’s back, kissing the back of her neck gently.

Stacie fell asleep listening to her girlfriend’s soft snoring.

Holy shit, Beca is her _girlfriend._

//

“Emily, why are there Christmas lights around the shopping cart?”

“You stole them from the neighbors trash last night and told me to decorate with them. I call it the Aesthetic Cart,” Emily grinned and showed off her handiwork. The lights were plugged into the wall and laced carefully through the grate of the cart. Surprisingly, all of the bulbs seemed to work.

“Pretty dope, dude. Hey, do you wanna go get lunch? Stacie had to run to set.”

“Oh, I can’t actually,” Emily looked anywhere but at Beca. “I sort of have a date? I think.”

“What the fuck? Did this happen in the last 12 hours or did I hit my head and develop amnesia while I was drunk?”

“No, it just got arranged this morning…”

“Spill the beans, dude! Who is it?”

“...Aubrey.”

Beca spit out her coffee.

//

“Someone looks happy,” Stacie said as she sat down across from Aubrey, handing her a coffee. “Who died?”

“Ha ha. What, I’m not allowed to look happy?” Aubrey glanced up at Stacie from her laptop.

“No, you are. It’s just that you usually look like you’re about to fire someone. Does this have anything to do with a certain doe-eyed brunette?” Stacie batted her eyelashes mockingly.

“Watch it, Stacie.” Aubrey warned. Stacie saw the blush forming on Aubrey’s cheeks though, so she won that round. “This is a professional meeting.”

“Uh-oh. Good news or bad news?”

“Good, actually. Like, really good. Have you checked Twitter lately?”

“Not since the other night when I was at Beca’s.”

Aubrey nodded knowingly. Almost immediately after Stacie and Beca became official, Stacie rushed to Twitter to prove all of those rumors wrong (with Beca’s permission of course. Beca said she “couldn’t care less”).

The series of tweets weren’t as...eloquent as Aubrey probably would’ve advised.

**@TheStacieConrad: not having any of this gal pals bullshit anymore lmao**

**@TheStacieConrad: my new “bestie” beca? the one in all the new candids? she’s my GIRLFRIEND.**

**@TheStacieConrad: I’m BI and u gotta deal with it! #BIconicBitches**

**@TheStacieConrad: thanks i’m going to go have GAY SEX with my SMOKIN’ HOT GIRLFRIEND now xox**

“I stand by those tweets. No shame.” Stacie crossed her arms over her chest.

“Oh, I’m aware you don’t have any shame, Stace,” Aubrey quipped. “And you shouldn’t. Save for the last tweet. That one was unnecessary.”

“Eh,” Stacie shrugged.

“Anyway, the point is that you’ve been trending.”

“No shit?”

“No shit,” Aubrey grinned. “Massive amounts of fan and celeb support. Now everyone is speculating about whether your new character will be bi also. Of course, you could always hit them with a ‘surprise, all of my characters were actually bi’ deal.”

“Let’s be real. I’ve been working the most basic of basic rom-coms for my whole career. All of my characters have been straight.”

“That’s fair,” Aubrey agreed.

“So, there’s been no backlash?”

“Not exactly,” Aubrey said, a little more seriously. “There’s some bigoted assholes, a few conservative groups who say you’re a terrible role model, some creeps asking you if you’d have a threesome, a lot of people saying you’re doing it for publicity for the movie.”

“Whatever, they’re dicks,” Stacie waved it off. The voices of biphobic pricks were going to fall on deaf ears.  

“And…” Aubrey sighed like she was dreading this. “I feel like you should know that you’ll probably see quite a few gossip columns saying that this is just another fling. I know that you were hoping that this wouldn’t happen once you were in a real relationship. But it has. There’s nothing we can really do about it but keep denying it.”

Stacie’s face fell a little. Aubrey placed her hand on Stacie’s reassuringly.

“Stacie, you know you shouldn’t worry about them. But - ”

“I know. I’m not,” Stacie interrupted.

“Let me finish,” Aubrey said sternly, but softly. “But it’s okay for it to get to you, you know. It’s hard for it not to. But just remember that you have tons of people who support you. Not just your fans, either.”

Stacie didn’t respond, her mind was running wild with thousands of insecurities rearing their ugly heads again, just as she thought she had gotten past them. What if Beca saw those rumors? Stacie knew they had a discussion about this already, but what if Beca saw them and started doubting her decision? What if Beca wanted to break up with her because she’s scared Stacie would toss her aside like the others? What if -

Aubrey tapped Stacie’s phone, which had been bursting with notifications since she sat down.

“She sure supports you.”

Stacie glanced at her phone. There were eight texts. All from Beca.

**[Beca]: hi i hope you had a good day on set yesterday i missed you**

**[Beca]: that was gay and lame of me**

**[Beca]: i hope you had a TERRIBLE day on set and i DIDNT miss you**

**[Beca]: …..no that was a lie im sorry**

**[Beca]: …...i’m just going to shut up now**

**[Beca]: have fun at lunch with the robot i mean aubrey (em says not to call her that but idc)**

**[Beca]: also i saw your tweets, i’m v proud of you**

**[Beca]: im being lame again ok whatever text me later**

Stacie finally smiled. Every part of her felt warm with affection for the goofy, tiny skater.

“She knows that this isn’t a fling. She’s the one whose opinion you should care about.”

“You’re right,” Stacie sighed, locking her phone again. “Does this mean you approve of Beca now?”

“Barely.” Aubrey’s voice was serious, but Stacie still laughed.

“That’s okay, I don’t need your opinion, right?”

//

“Stacie, I can’t believe you convinced me that this was a good idea,” Aubrey was gripping her steering wheel so tight her knuckles were losing color. “Do you know how many favors I had to call in?”

“Yes, and I thank you forever and will never ask for anything ever again.”

“That’s the biggest lie I’ve ever heard,” Aubrey huffed.

“Come on, it’s not just for Beca,” Stacie argued. “Emily is super pumped too.”

“If Emily wasn’t attached to Beca at the hip, I wouldn’t have even considered this.”

“Really? Not even for me?” Stacie asked.

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because Beca on a movie set sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.”

“Come on,” Stacie said. “It’s for our two month anniversary. And it’s you and Emily’s one month. Not that I’m keeping track for you.”

Stacie honestly doesn’t know how she managed to convince Aubrey this was a good idea. They were on their way to pick up their girlfriends and take them to the set where Stacie was filming. Beca was mostly interested in bugging Stacie the whole time, but Emily was genuinely excited for the trip.

“You know Emily’s not exactly much better than Beca about getting into trouble. She helped her steal two of those shopping carts,” Stacie pointed out.

“Yeah, but she just gets dragged into it because she’s too good of a friend to let Beca get arrested,” Aubrey rebutted.

“Either way, the two of them together is going to make for an interesting day.”

//

Stacie wasn’t expecting to be so busy. She hardly had any breaks throughout the day, which sucked considering this was the one day her girlfriend was able to come. Stacie tried her best to stay focused, but she occasionally caught a glance of Beca stuffing food from the craft service table into her hoodie pocket or attempting to skateboard but inevitably getting yelled at.

“Stacie,” Aubrey warned from the side. Emily had her arm wrapped around Aubrey and was eagerly watching them film. “If you keep giving Beca heart eyes, we’re going to be here all night.”

“Maybe if John would give me a break, I could focus more,” Stacie mumbled. Her co-star and love interest for the movie, Jesse, chuckled.

Aubrey rolled her eyes, but she walked over to John and started talking. Emily trailed close behind. Stacie could see that she was going into Business Aubrey mode, her jaw tightening and green eyes blazing. Stacie also saw how this side of Aubrey was affecting Emily, her cheeks flush.

“Alright, take fifteen,” John finally called over to Stacie and Jesse, clearly not happy to be giving in.

Stacie sighed and ran over to Aubrey and Emily, the brunette’s arm wrapped around her girlfriend again.

“Thank you, Aubrey.”

“It’s my job,” Aubrey shrugged.

“And you’re damn good at it. Isn’t she, Em?” Stacie smiled knowingly at Emily. The brunette simply nodded; but her grip visually tightening around Aubrey, who didn’t fail to notice and had a blush of her own starting to show. Emily whispered something in Aubrey’s ear and started to lead her away. Aubrey just mumbled something about catching up with Stacie later.

Stacie chuckled and watched Emily and Aubrey rush off together. She heard something fall on the ground, followed by a whispered “shit” and knew instantly that it was her girlfriend. Beca was a few feet away from Stacie, picking up a bread roll and stuffing it back in her pocket.

“Dude,” Beca grinned as she jogged over to Stacie, leaning up to peck her cheek. “Do you know how much food is over there, babe? It’s crazy.”

“I know. I work here, baby.” Stacie took in the sight of her girlfriend.

Beca really shouldn’t be allowed to be so effortlessly hot. Like, she’s standing there with untied Converse that have pen doodles all around the base, Cheeto dust on her ripped black skinny jeans, a hoodie stuffed full of stolen food, and a stupid lazy smirk on her face.

And somehow she’s hotter than any other person Stacie’s ever met.

//

“Are you bored?” Stacie asked. “I know movies aren’t really your thing, and I’m not able to show you around or anything…”

“It’s fine, Stace. I’m entertaining myself. A couple of people have yelled at me, but Aubrey told them to leave me alone. I didn’t really need her help, but it’s whatever.” Beca wasn’t eager to admit that Aubrey had actually been _nice_ to her today. It just made her harder to hate.

But Beca guesses she’s not always intolerable.

Emily seems to like her a lot and won’t shut up about her, so Beca figures she’s going to have to get used to her either way.

“Well, Stacie, I wish you told me it was bring your girlfriend to work day!”

Beca raised an eyebrow at the boy who had approached them. He had a megawatt smile and a positive energy about him that was almost contagious.

Almost.

“I don’t think it would’ve done you much good Jesse,” Stacie replied. “You kinda need a girlfriend to participate.”

“Good point,” the guy - _Jesse_ \- points out. “Though if we change it to ‘bring your significant other to work day’, then Benji could come.”

“Maybe next time, champ,” Stacie smiled. “Oh, Beca. This is my co-star, Jesse. Jesse, this is - ”

“The famous Beca!” Jesse said, voice echoing so everyone turned to the trio. Beca shrunk under the attention. So far, Jesse seemed nice, but _too loud._ “I’m stoked to finally meet you, dude. Stacie has told me not nearly enough about you.”

“Ditto for you, dude. Stacie never tells me about work.”

“You two should get along nicely,” Stacie said. “Both of you say ‘dude’ way too much.”

Jesse started asking Beca various questions, about what she did, how she met Stacie, what her favorite movies where. He was cute. Beca could see how fans would flock around him. Jesse had a boyish charm and a charismatic attitude. Their conversation was cut short when the director called Stacie and Jesse back.

For the first time that day, Beca actually watched Stacie act. She was really good. Beca didn’t really know a lot about acting, but Stacie seemed to fully immerse herself in the scene. Beca thinks she remembers Stacie saying something about her character being a chemist who keeps failing at finding a cure to some alien disease (Beca really isn’t even sure what the movie is called, that’s all the detail she can muster up).

The emotion in Stacie’s eyes is clear even from where Beca stood. Her voice cracked and heartbreaking when she chokes out, “I can’t let them down. I can’t keep letting them down, Mason. They’re depending on me.”

Beca didn’t even know what the plot was, but she still felt chills.

“Abby, listen to me.” Beca watched Jesse grip Stacie by the shoulders in the fake lab set. Stacie was hunched over, fake sobs wracked her body. Jesse’s voice rose. “Abby, damnit! Listen to me!” Stacie looked up. “You are the smartest person in this entire lab. This entire _country._ You won’t let them down, okay? We’re so close. So close. We can’t give up now.”

Jesse was good too.

“Mason…” Stacie whispered, moving closer to Jesse’s face, eyes still watery and sad.

They had great chemistry.

“Abby.”

Jesse and Stacie pressed their lips together.

Nope. That was too much chemistry.

Beca knew she shouldn’t be jealous. It’s stupid, right? This was Stacie’s job. Jesse was a nice guy, plus he had a boyfriend. So feeling jealous was useless. Beca just wished she listened to herself a little clearer. She couldn’t look away from the scene, but her nails were digging into her palms and her chest felt tight. She finally ripped herself away from watching them and rushed off.

Beca found herself in Stacie’s trailer. It was the first place Stacie had taken her to on set, so Beca’s body must have gone their on autopilot. Beca tugged her hoodie off, spilling food on the floor, but she doesn’t care. She tried to steady her breathing for a few minutes, taking swigs of Stacie’s water in between. Beca groans to nobody and flops down on the couch.

Stupid. It’s stupid. It’s just a scene. She shouldn’t be jealous. Stacie has reassured her so many times that she was loyal to Beca. This jealousy was pointless and just made her feel like shit.

Stupid stupid stupid.

//

Beca must have drifted off, because she jerked awake to the feeling of someone picking her up and then adjusting them both back on the couch, body pressed into her back. Lips pressed to the back of her neck. Beca leaned into them.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.” Stacie mumbled into Beca’s neck.

“What time is it?”

“About 7. I just finished.”

Memories of where she was and what had happened came flooding back to Beca. Stacie wasn’t oblivious and noticed the change in demeanor, noticed Beca’s body tense.

“Are you okay? Aubrey said you ran off earlier.”

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. You saw Jesse kiss me,” Stacie said. “And you got jealous.”

“I know,” Beca groaned, covering her face. “It’s so dumb, and I’m sorry. I know it’s your job and everything...”

“It’s okay to feel a little jealous, Beca,” Stacie said.

“...Really?”

“Sure.” Beca felt Stacie shrug. “I know it’s weird to see your girlfriend so casually kissing someone else. But remember. That’s Abby, not Stacie.”

“I know,” Beca sighed. “You two are just too good at acting like you’re in love.”

“Well, that is my career, Becs,” Stacie chuckled. “Jesse is no one to worry about though. For one thing, he’s taken. He’s super in love with his dorky magician boyfriend. Also, he’s not my type. Sure he’s cute, but like, puppy dog cute.”

“Then what is your type?” Beca asked, glad Stacie couldn’t see her smirking.

Stacie took the bait.

“Well...I like tattoos and piercings.” Stacie started, her hands finding their way under Beca’s shirt. “And I like someone who’s fun and hilarious.” Stacie maneuvered so she was on top of Beca, straddling her waist. “Sarcasm is a plus.” Beca gasped when Stacie rolled her hips. “Also, when they have a stupid smirk on their pretty face 24/7.” She punctuated the sentence by crashing their lips together, rushed and passionate.

Beca gasped as Stacie groped her chest with one hand. The other hand started tracing the edge of Beca’s jeans.

“Stacie…”

“I’m not done, babygirl,” Stacie said, her voice dropping an octave. Beca whimpered at the nickname. “My type is someone who is so effortlessly fucking hot.”

Stacie’s hand quickly undid Beca’s jeans, slipping into her boxers. Beca moaned with she felt Stacie’s fingers run through her increasingly wet folds.

“My type is someone who gets worked up, just for me,” Stacie whispered into Beca’s neck before nipping the delicate skin there. Beca could feel Stacie working a hickey into her neck as she rolled her clit between her fingers and couldn’t help but grind her hips against Stacie’s hand.

“Stacie, fuck.”

“Your wish is my command, babe,” Stacie winked.

Stacie slipped her fingers into Beca. Beca’s head fell back against the sofa, rocking her hips to meet Stacie’s movements. Stacie continued marking Beca’s whole body with hickies, her fingers never slowing down. Beca could feel herself getting close, her body becoming more and more sensitive. Stacie noticed too, and as she finished placing one final hickey below Beca’s collarbone, she stared intensely into Beca’s eyes and whispered, “ _Mine._ ”

Beca felt her orgasm crash over her, moaning Stacie’s name over and over as her girlfriend slowed the pace of her fingers, bringing Beca down from her climax smoothly. Beca’s body was still shuddering at the touch when Stacie laid her body fully on top of her.

“If you didn’t get the point, you’re my type,” Stacie grinned, kissing the tip of Beca’s nose.

“Got it,” Beca’s voice was rough. Stacie nuzzled her head into Beca’s neck, sighing contentedly. “You didn’t want me to…?”

“No, that was all for you, babe,” Stacie assured her. “You can return the favor later. I had enough fun giving you as many hickies as possible.”

Beca chuckled and kissed Stacie’s forehead.

“Do you feel better now, though?” Stacie asked, her voice a little concerned.

“I do,” Beca answered truthfully. “Though, I never really had any real doubts. I know you’re all mine. But if that’s what being jealous gets me….”

“Be careful what you wish for, Beca. There won’t be enough concealer in the world to cover all the hickies.”

“Who said I was covering them?”

//

Stacie heard a sigh come from the mass of blankets on her bed. She smirked and tossed the shirt she was folding aside. She backed up a little and leapt onto the bed, causing a scream to ring through the room. Stacie laughed and Beca poked her head out from under the blankets.

“Not cool, dude,” Beca pouted and rubbed her eyes.

“I heard you sigh, I know you were awake,” Stacie kissed Beca’s forehead. “It’s almost eleven anyway.”

Beca groaned and sat up, blankets spilling around her and revealing her naked body, pale and littered with hickies. Stacie eyed her hungrily before shaking her head and getting off of the bed again. She found one of her old t-shirts on the ground and threw it at Beca. Beca squeaked as it hit her.

“Dude!” Beca looked at the shirt and wrinkled her nose. “Are you trying to cover my beautiful body, Stace?”

“Yes,” Stacie answered firmly and started folding clothes again. “You’re too distracting. I have to finish packing so I can make my flight.”

Beca mumbled something.

“Hmm?”

Beca mumbled again.

“Speak up, babe.” Stacie turned to her girlfriend.

“I’mgoingtomissyou,” Beca said sheepishly, toying with the edge of the blanket.

Stacie smiled and stuffed the shirt into the already full suitcase. “Is that why you curled up in my suitcase last night?”

Beca rolled her eyes. “I was drunk.”

“Barely.” Stacie laughed. “I’m going to miss you too, Beca.”

Stacie looked up from her packing just in time to see Beca grinning and blushing. As soon as they made eye contact, Beca shifted her face into an unconvincing scowl. Stacie rolled her eyes.

Beca rose with Stacie to drop her off at the airport. Emily came too, because Stacie didn’t trust Beca to drive her car home alone. Emily readily agreed, and spent most of the time asking Stacie about the interviews she’d be doing.

“You can tell her to shut up any time, Stace,” Beca said after the fiftieth question. Emily tickled Beca’s neck in retaliation. “Stop, you freakin’ nightmare child!”

“Shut up, you goblin.”

“You shut up.”

Stacie gave both of them an amused look from the driver’s seat. Once they arrived, Emily and Beca helped Stacie with her bags. Stacie hugged Emily goodbye and watched her hop into the driver’s seat of the car. She turned back to her girlfriend, who was staring at the ground.

“Beca.”

Beca looked up, and Stacie saw a hint of sadness in her eyes. If Aubrey wouldn’t kill her, Stacie would’ve gotten back into the car right then and drove home with her girlfriend.

“The press tour won’t be that long, babe. I’ll be home before you know it. When I get back, we’ll have tons of time to be together since filming is done. You’ll be my date to that premier party, right?”

“Do I have to dress up?”

“It’s semi-formal.”

“Ughhhh,” Beca groaned and stomped dramatically. “I haven’t owned something above business-casual since…”

“Ever?”

Beca nodded.

“We’ll find you something.”

Stacie opened her arms and Beca stepped toward her, wrapping her arms around Stacie’s middle and resting her head on her. Stacie embraced her girlfriend and kissed the top of her head. Her whole body felt warm and light and she didn’t want to let go.

“I’ll miss you, babe.”

“I’ll miss you, dude.”

“Beca,” Stacie pulled back slightly, hands moving to cup Beca’s face. She gazed into Beca’s eyes and felt nerves in her stomach - was this what people meant when they had butterflies?

“Stacie? Are you - ”

“I love you,” Stacie blurted out. She was almost as surprised as Beca was, but the nerves in her stomach left as soon as Beca leaned up and pressed their lips together. It was soft and pure and Stacie wishes she could stay in this moment for eternity.

Beca pulled back and her eyes were still closed after Stacie’s opened, a content smile on Beca’s lips. Beca’s eyes finally fluttered open and she chewed on her lip a moment before saying, “I love you, Stacie.”

“I know,” Stacie shrugged casually.

Beca moved back and slapped Stacie’s abdomen.

“I’m trying to be genuine, you dick!”

“I was referencing one of the most romantic moments in cinematic history!” Beca gave her a puzzled look. “Han and Leia? Star Wars?!”

“You know I haven’t seen it, nerd.”

“And yet, I still love you,” Stacie couldn’t help but grin. Beca sighed and leaned up to kiss her again before walking towards the car. She kept a hand on the door and waved goodbye. Stacie blew her a kiss and winked.

“Bye, you two! Please don’t do any illegal things while I’m gone.”

“We will!” Beca called back.

“Have a safe flight, Stacie!” Emily shouted.

“I have no control over that.”

“Die then,” Beca shouted. Stacie feigned offense and Beca quickly added. “Please don’t actually though. Love you, bye!”

//

**[Stacie]: just got to my hotel room**

**[Stacie]: wish u were here**

**[Beca]: haha gay**

**[Stacie]: i’m blocking you goodbye**

**[Beca]: NOOOOO!!!!!!!**

//

Beca prided herself on being a pretty independent person. But these two weeks without Stacie were driving her crazy. Stacie made the effort to text at least once a day, but she was constantly busy with interviews.

Emily tried distracting her as much as she could, but for some reason Emily wanted her to spend time with Aubrey too. Something about it being important to her that her best friend and her girlfriend at least got along. Insane, right?

To top the whole thing off, Emily’s activity of choice was watching a movie.

“Alright, ladies, what are we watching?”

“How about we do something else? We could relive my parents divorce.” Beca suggested, sipping a Capri Sun. “Or visit a gynecologist.”

“Charming,” Aubrey muttered.

Emily looked between the two of them, Beca slouched in the armchair and Aubrey sitting upright and proper on the couch, arms crossed over her chest. Emily’s lower lip jutted out in a pout.

“Please just play along?” Emily pleaded. “Just for one night.”

Aubrey sighed. “Fine. You pick the movie, Emily.”

“Whipped,” Beca grumbled.

Somehow they ended up watching one of Stacie’s movies. Beca thinks it’s Emily’s way of trying to cheer her up. It somewhat works. Beca just ends up staring at Stacie the whole time, not paying attention to the movie at all.

Beca’s pretty sure that Emily and Aubrey were making out for half of it anyway.

Eugh, gross.

The other nights are better. After work, Beca will come home and sometimes Emily and she order take out. They go out and skate and sometimes drink a little too much. They end up breaking their promise to Stacie and break the law a bit, but it’s fine. Nobody has to know.

Except Aubrey, who got a call from a very drunk Emily at 1 A.M. and ended up coming over to force a very drunk Beca to return the various lawn ornaments she stole.

//

“Honey, I’m home!” Stacie burst through the front door of Beca and Emily’s place.

The house was unusually silent, there wasn’t even any music playing, which was extremely strange. The Mitchell-Junk household usually had a constant soundtrack playing.

“Beca, babe? You said you were home, like ten minutes ago.” Stacie checked to see if Beca was knocked out on the couch, but just found their cat Ella, who ran away from Stacie’s attempt at petting her. “Bitch…”

Stacie noticed Beca’s bedroom door was cracked and she peeked her head in. She gasped at what she found waiting for her. Beca was clad in only an open flannel, lounging against the headboard and slowly teasing herself with one hand.

“Hi babe,” Beca said in a low voice. “I missed you.”

“I-I missed you too,” Stacie  stuttered. She knew Beca was hot, but this...This was new.

“Come make it up to me?” Beca tilted her head slowly, never stopping her movements.

“Absolutely.” Stacie practically sprinted over to climb on top of her girlfriend.

//

Stacie patted down the collar of Beca’s dress shirt. She paused for a moment and looked at her girlfriend’s outfit: a white flowy dress shirt, a fitted suit jacket and matching pants. Aubrey had helped with Beca’s hair - Emily somehow convinced her to help since Stacie was too busy to. She pulled it up and out of her face in a bun, with loose delicate pieces framing Beca’s face.

“Hmm…” Stacie hummed to herself. She unbuttoned Beca’s shirt one more button and pulled back again to admire her work. “Better.”

“Are you trying to get everyone to admire my tits?” Beca raised an eyebrow.

“No. It’s just for me.”

Beca chuckled and pulled Stacie flush against her by her hips. Stacie tilted her head and asked, “Feeling handsy, huh?”

“Not my fault you look so freakin’ gorgeous.” Beca looked Stacie up and down. Stacie’s stylist had picked out a long black dress, strapless with a slit so her legs could be shown off. Her heels made her tower over Beca even more than normal. “Like seriously, how are you even real?”

“I’m very real, don’t worry babe.” Stacie kissed the tip of Beca’s nose. Beca laughed and stood on her toes - she managed to sneak by Aubrey and wear Vans instead of heels - so she could reach Stacie’s lips.

“Ugh, can you two hurry up?” The couple turned to the door and saw Aubrey and Emily watching them. Emily had her arms wrapped around Aubrey’s waist and was nuzzled into her neck, which made Aubrey’s attempt at looking annoyed much less convincing. “We’re going to be late.”

The premier party was bustling, and Beca was trying to stick close to Stacie. Everything was overwhelming, and Beca felt extremely out of place walking among a bunch of movie stars. Stacie rubbed Beca’s lower back soothingly as she talked to various celebrities and press. Beca managed to relax after a while, with the help of Stacie and a few glasses of champagne, and started to mingle on her own so Stacie could take photos with the rest of the cast.

Beca worked her way through almost every waiter carrying hors d’oeuvres, carrying as many plates of free food as she could. She was just about to harass the guy carrying mini sausages again when she felt someone tap her shoulder. Given her history with getting kicked out of places for taking too many samples, Beca was ready to book it out of the venue. But a hand caught her by the collar and she turned to see Aubrey holding onto her.

“Oh, it’s just you. These are free, I’m not stealing.”

“I don’t give a shit how many hors d’oeuvres you eat,” Aubrey huffed. Beca noticed that she looked uncharacteristically disheveled. “Have you seen Emily?”  

“Em? No. The last time I saw her she was with you.”

Aubrey sighed and released the back of Beca’s jacket. She continued to search the room with her eyes. “I walked away to talk to Jesse for a second, and I haven’t seen her since.”

Beca thought for a second. “She likes to explore new places a lot. She’s probably in one of the other rooms. I saw a service dog earlier, so you might find her trying to pet it…”

Aubrey nodded quickly and rushed off as fast as she could in her heels. Beca rolled her eyes and called after her. “You’re welcome!”

Stacie crossed paths with Aubrey on her way back over to Beca. She pointed at her running off and asked, “What’s with her?”

“She lost her girlfriend,” Beca shrugged. “My bet is that she’s petting a dog. Oh, by the way, can I see your purse for a second?”

Stacie raised an eyebrow but handed her purse to Beca, who proceeded to drop napkins stuffed with food into it. “May I ask what you’re doing?”

“Dude, there’s tons of free food here. And it’s hella good. So I’m just taking my fair share,” Beca answered.

“Well, I’m glad you’re having fun,” Stacie said, taking her purse once Beca was done with it. “You are having fun, right?”

“I feel a little out of place,” Beca admitted. “But it’s okay.”

“I’m sorry, baby.” Stacie looked at Beca sympathetically. “We can leave now, if you want.”

“No no, you’re doing your thing. I’m fine, I promise.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. “ Beca paused for a minute before adding, “It’s just weird, cuz like, the dates I plan for us are usually getting food or drinking with Emily and stealing shit. Meanwhile, you take me to a movie set or a freakin’ premier party. Sometimes I just forget that like, this is your life.”

Stacie nodded slowly, processing what Beca said. “Let’s go home. Come on.”

Stacie tugged on Beca’s arm and started leading her to the exit. Beca texted Emily to tell her they were about to leave. They stood at the exit to wait for her and Aubrey. “You know, I prefer your dates.”

“Really?” Beca looked up from her phone.

“Mhmm. Don’t get me wrong, I like this stuff. But I also like being able to let loose and relax and not worry about what the world thinks of me. I admire that about you.” Stacie grazed Beca’s cheek with the back of her hand and Beca leaned into her touch. “My life is always so go-go-go. But when I’m with you...ugh I’m getting cheesy.”

“No, please. Don’t stop the cheese on my account,” Beca grinned.

“Nothing, just that being with you makes time stop or whatever,” Stacie sighed with a smile on her face. “I really need to not do any more rom-coms.”

“Aw, babe.” Beca kissed Stacie’s hand before taking it in her own. “I love you. Disgusting, cheesy rom-com lines and all.”

“Love you too.” Stacie guided Beca closer and kissed the top of her head. They heard clicks of cameras going off, and Stacie sighed. Beca could see that Stacie was ready to tell them the paparazzi to fuck off, but luckily she didn’t have to.

“Alright, alright,” Aubrey pushed through the crowd, Emily’s hand intertwined with hers. “You’ve gotten your pictures, vultures. Stacie’s leaving now, so goodnight.”

Aubrey led the rest of them out, never faltering in her steps. Beca silently thanked her. Emily bumped against her while they waited for the valet.

“Guess I’m going to be seeing you in some of those photos tomorrow, huh?”

Beca ignored Emily’s comment. “Dude, where did you go?”

“On an adventure,” Emily said casually. “In one of the rooms there was a big fish tank. And I also met a service dog. The owner let me pet him.”

“She was very excited about the service dog.” Aubrey rubbed Emily’s arm, staring at her lovingly.

“His name was Poker.”

“Called it,” Beca said to Stacie.

The four of them went back to Beca and Emily’s house, shedding their formal attire for t-shirts and sweatpants. They lazed around and talked about the night. The food that Beca had stashed in Stacie’s purse became their late night snacks. Even Aubrey seemed relaxed.

They didn’t even make it to either bedroom and woke up sprawled across the living room floor. Aubrey and Emily were already awake and making breakfast when Stacie woke up. Music drifted into the living room from the kitchen where Emily and Aubrey were giggling. Beca shifted in Stacie’s arms, turning so she could press a kiss into the hollow of her throat. Stacie giggled at the contact.

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

“Love you,” Stacie mumbled against Beca’s hairline.

“Love you too.”

//

“The Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role goes too...Stacie Conrad!”

Stacie’s excitement was palpable. She captured Beca’s lips in a kiss before Aubrey pushed her to go accept the award. The grin never left her face. Beca watched in awe from the crowd, chest swelling with pride. Stacie held the Oscar tight in her hand, as if she was afraid they’d try to take it from her.

“I know you probably want me to keep this short. Trust me, I’m just here to see what won Best Picture too,” Stacie spoke into the microphone. Laughter rang through the audience. “I’ll keep it brief. I’ve had a crazy year, breaking out into a new genre and coming out publicly as bi. I couldn’t have done it without the insane amount of support. Thank you, ma, for telling me to not give up on acting. Thank you, Aubrey, my agent who got me this role in the first place. I don’t know what I’d do without you bossing me around.”

Stacie made eye contact with Beca, and both of them forgot that anyone else was in the room. They forgot that the whole world could hear and they didn’t care if they did.

“I have one last person to thank. If someone told me that I would meet my favorite person climbing on the shelves of the snack section in Walmart, I would’ve asked them what rom-com they’d been watching.” Aubrey nudged Beca’s side as Stacie paused for people to laugh. She smiled and Beca smiled back. “But that’s what happened. Beca Mitchell, thank you. For everything. From driving you to the hospital after you crash a shopping cart to spending the day at the beach together until we’re both sunburnt. You’re the biggest nerd I’ve ever met. I love you.”

The room filled with applause as Stacie stepped back from the microphone. Beca couldn’t help herself and jumped up onto her seat, clapping harder and cheering louder than anyone else.

“THAT’S MY GIRLFRIEND!” Beca shouted at the top of her lungs. “I love you, Stace!”

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr is @rosadiaznypd and anything regarding this au can be found under the tag "sk8er au" !


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